Northwestern University Athletics
NU Welcomes No. 3 Notre Dame, Purdue to Evanston
4/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 2, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern is set to defend its home courts as well as its No. 1 national ranking when it hosts third-ranked Notre Dame at noon Saturday in Combe Tennis Center. On Sunday, the Wildcats return to conference play when they square off against Purdue at noon. NU has won seven consecutive matches and has a firm grasp on first place in the Big Ten.
Live scoring for the match is available by clicking here.
Saturday's match against Notre Dame is U.S. Cellular Day at Combe Tennis Center, with the first 200 fans in attendance receiving a complimentary visor. Fans will also be treated to free breakfast courtesy of Le Peep.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH
Notre Dame represents the highest ranked team NU (15-1, 5-0) has faced since the 'Cats overcame No. 6 Georgia in the final of the ITA National Indoor Team Championship on Feb. 19. Northwestern and Notre Dame met in the semifinal round of that event, where the Wildcats came away with a 4-1 victory to advance.
The Fighting Irish climbed to their No. 3 ranking thanks to a 17-3 overall record but suffered a setback on Tuesday in a 5-2 home loss to fourth-ranked Baylor. Notre Dame's highest ranked singles player is senior Kelcy Tefft (No. 35), who Samantha Murray defeated in the final of the Midwest Regional Championship at Michigan State in October. Freshman Kristy Frilling checks in just behind Tefft at No. 36 with a 20-6 overall record and a 12-5 mark at second singles in dual play. Tefft and Frilling have also combined in doubles play to earn the nation's No. 3 ranking with a 26-2 overall record.
Northwestern is 23-10 all-time against Notre Dame and has not lost to the Fighting Irish since a 4-3 loss on Feb. 3, 2007.
SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue enters the weekend with a 5-9 overall record and a 1-3 mark in Big Ten play. Freshman Jennifer Rabot has found a home for the Boilers at No. 4 singles, going 10-3 in that position to lift her overall singles mark to 21-8, while junior Tatiana Ganzha is 20-11 overall and 7-7 in duals. Purdue has dropped its last five matches, all to ranked opponents.
A Northwestern victory this weekend would stretch its advantage in the all-time series against Purdue to 37 wins in 38 tries.
LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern played its first match in nearly two weeks last Friday and staved off a challenge from No. 15 Fresno State, overcoming the Bulldogs by a 4-2 margin in San Diego. Senior Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) made a triumphant return to singles action, beating No. 28 Anastasia Petukhova in straight sets to earn the clinching fourth point for the Wildcats. After winning the doubles point, NU received speedy singles wins by Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) and Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral), setting up Rose's clinching fourth point.
On Sunday, Northwestern squared off against the second-place team in the Big Ten and left no doubt as to which program still reigns supreme in the conference, winning at No. 16 Michigan 6-1. The Wildcats extended their dual match winning streak in the league to 69 while snapping Michigan's 24-match home winning streak in the process. Murray improved to 12-4 in dual singles matches and 15-1 in doubles play with her match-clinching victory against Tania Mahtani while freshman Stacey Lee (Old Westbury, N.Y./Wheatley) remained unbeaten in dual singles matches.
